What are my chances - Student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison graduating in three years

mrcanuck:

Hey I know this question is not related. But why are students at UW-Madison so conceited about their University? I remember a guy there tried to convince me that UW-M is more prestigious than Cornell. Of course, rather than argue, I just didn't argue because it was a pathetic and petty argument to start with (like most arguments regarding 'target' and 'non target' universities on this board)

Cornell is viewed in most circles as being more prestigious since it is an Ivy (although the rest of the ivies constantly make fun of cornell), but I can definitely see someone arguing why UW-M would be a better college to attend for undergrad than Cornell.

UW-M has a top 5 undergrad business program, whereas if you go to an Ivy your best shot at touching business material in your undergrad is being an econ major (exception being Wharton where you are an econ major that then concentrates in finance, accounting, etc.). Therefore, someone that doesn't have much business exposure and is interested in business, could actually start learning some finance their junior year opposed to never touching it at Cornell. And as aforementioned in the thread, you still have a decent amount of recruiting on campus (obviously not as much as an Ivy, but enough where a top student with internships shouldn't be concerned with not getting an offer). Furthermore, if you are a student with financial concerns coming out of high school and you performed well on your SAT and had a good GPA, then chances are you will get a full ride to UW-M (or any big state school for that matter), whereas if you choose an Ivy, you are still looking at taking on some debt. Lastly, the college experience (big time sports, big time parties, hot girls, greek scene) is far superior at UW-M (again, the same for all big state schools) than any Ivy, which in my opinion should be a major factor in deciding undergrad schools (but not an important factor for law school, MBA, etc.).

In fact, one of my best friends who currently goes to Columbia and has over a 4. GPA, commonly questions whether he should have went to Univ. of Michigan instead of Columbia because of the previously mentioned advantages (undergrad business program, better Greek scene, big time sports, better parties, hotter girls, etc).

I also have several fraternity brothers who got into several Ivy league or comparable schools, but chose our SEC school for the above reasons. I personally didn't apply to any ivy league schools because all of my family members who had went to an ivy (and took on debt in doing so) told me to get a full ride to a state school for undergrad, make sure you are a top student there, and then just go to a target for grad school.

So my question mrcanuck is: why do so many ivy students think anyone who didn't want to attend an ivy for undergrad is an idiot? Are males at ivies not into good looking girls, parties, and sports?